Adieu XIMB

Today when I was deleting obsolete files from my laptop, I found this in a Word file. I now remember that I wrote this as I was waiting for my flight to be called in Bhubaneswar airport. I must have forgotten to post it. Although it is technically too late to do so now, I think the sentiments are still valid. Happy reading!

Phew! The moment is finally here! It is time to leave. Now, as I sit at Bhubaneswar airport awaiting the call for boarding, the reality that I may be leaving this city for good is slowly beginning to sink in. I ask myself, “When I came here some 2 years ago, did I ever think it would be so difficult to get out of XIMB? Or for that matter, what is XIMB for me?” The usual bout of introspection followed.

When I first landed at XIMB on that rainy day in June 2008, at first, I was appalled that I had been allotted a room in a hostel that was far away from the academic block. More walking for lazy old me! It wasn’t even a week before I called for my bike to be sent from Bombay. In the meanwhile, the action was only building up. Interactions turned out to be a bitter-sweet affair, but certainly did its bit to thaw relations between us and the incumbent batch. Then came the full brunt of the reality of MBA. At first, I used to scoff at the so-called pundits who kept on insisting that MBA wasn’t easy. Of course, they were wrong (at least in some sense)! The academic part was easy enough. It was the overall management of time that was the most troublesome. To add to that were other matters like food (very very important!), crushes, photography, IlluminatiX and my baby! I certainly would never have got through that torrid first year on my own without the support of Sissy. However, that is now in the past, and I mean the first year, not Sissy’s support!

Summer internship was a breeze and a welcome respite from the stressful atmosphere on campus. In second year, I began to appreciate the smaller things in XIMB a lot more. Maybe the move to the older hostel helped. Whatever the case, suddenly, the steps in front of the mess seemed to be a lot more inviting, X-Café food tasted great and X-walks were something I actually began to look forward to! The trip to Europe under the guise of a student exchange programme was the icing on the cake! Granted I missed my friends and Xpressions 2010, but the alternative certainly wasn’t an unwelcome one.

Last term was when I actually realised what all I would miss when I eventually left the place. It certainly wasn’t the buildings, or the neatly laid out campus. Those are things that are easily replicable elsewhere. What isn’t, is the company of that special set of friends who shared every aspect of their lives with each other. Those nights spent on D-roof indulging in long heart-to-heart talks were extremely cathartic for me and I am sure that the others who were there will agree with me. The north-east trip only served to cement the close bond that was formed with those 9 crazy individuals who ensured that time spent on campus might be seemingly fruitless, but never boring! Thank you guys for making the whole XIMB experience worth it!

Now, as I look ahead, there’s a month-long vacation awaiting me with some more travel. My camera shall have liaisons with more exotic places and then, it will be time for real life to start. A shift to Pune beckons and brings with it responsibility, a set schedule and more importantly, the fact that every move, every action matters! There are some good things about it too – finally I shall get to hang out with S after a really long time and there’s the prospect of spending face to face time with Sissy!

Whatever the future may hold for me, I know this much. XIMB has played a major part in shaping me into what I am today. I am sure there will be people who disagree with me when I say that I like the current Sumo as opposed to the one a couple of years ago, but then after all, it is my opinion that matters to my happiness, isn’t it? So, adieu XIMB! I don’t know when I shall walk your halls again but I do know that I shall never forget you!